Chapter 1439

The opportunity for battle is fleeting.

Sometimes it is like this.

If you cannot make a quick decision, you might miss a great opportunity for battle.

Gongsun Zan has seven thousand cavalry under his command, and once these seven thousand cavalry arrive outside Gaodu County, it will not be so easy for them to get out of this Gaodu County.

In the plains, it is too simple for seven thousand cavalry to consume fifteen thousand infantry.

Just send a part of the troops to cut off the subsequent grain supply, and then surround them and slowly eat them away.

Even if Gongsun Zan cannot eat them, waiting for the large army to come to support and Gongsun Zan to retreat, this will not help them attack Henei Commandery next.

Now Qu Yi is asking to fight. If he can annihilate the White Horse Volunteers, then there will be no obstacles to using troops against Henei Commandery next.

Without the cooperation of Gongsun Zan's cavalry, Henei Commandery is at best a turtle that is harder to chew.

"Good." Gao Shun nodded and said: "Since General Qu is sure, then go and try."

"I will lead the remaining troops to guard Gaodu County and suppress Shangdang Commandery."

Snap.

Qu Yi cupped his hands and bowed to Gao Shun: "Thank you for your trust, General Gao. I will definitely not let General Gao down."

That afternoon, Qu Yi led five thousand troops south, heading straight toward the direction Gongsun Zan was advancing.

Two days later, Tianjing Pass.

Tianjing Pass is also known as Xiongding Pass.

It stands in the territory of Shangdang Commandery, Bingzhou.

Although Tianjing Pass is in Shangdang Commandery, because of its important position as a strategic location for entering Henei Commandery and an important pass for defending the periphery of Luoyang, it has always been guarded by Henei Commandery.

In the early Western Han Dynasty, it was mainly used to defend against the Xiongnu moving south from Bingzhou.

The location of Tianjing Pass is in the southernmost part of the Taihang Mountains. It is a pass leading to Henei Commandery, known in history as one of the Eight Paths of Taihang, and is named after the three bottomless Tianjing Springs in front of the pass.

In the third year of Yangshuo of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Cheng of Han ordered the construction of Tianjing Pass here.

When Cai Yong was persecuted by Zhang Rang and fled north, he once passed through Tianjing Pass and said: "There is Tianjing Pass on the Taihang Mountains, the pass is north of the well, it is a danger set by heaven."

Liu Xin, the founder of the Ancient Text Confucianism school, wrote in *Suichu Fu*: "Galloping on the danger of Taihang, entering the high pass of Tianjing."

This location has been a place of contention for military strategists from ancient times to the present.

The Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao.

The King of Qin personally went to Henei to grant the title of noble to the people of Henei over fifteen years old, and let them follow Tianjing Pass north to Changping to block the reinforcements and grain routes of the Zhao State.

Since then, the Zhao army was defeated in the Battle of Changping.

Gongsun Zan, who had been heading north from Huai County for three days, arrived at Tianjing Pass with his troops.

This place is less than fifty miles away from Gaodu County.

As long as you get out of this distance, it is the flat Gaodu County.

At this time, Gongsun Zan is looking out from the pass with several great generals under his command, Yan Gang, Dan Jing, Guan Jing, Zou Dan, and his cousins Gongsun Yue, Gongsun Fan, and the Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun.

Accompanying Gongsun Zan is the pass-guarding captain of Tianjing Pass.

Gongsun Zan is not only looking at the distant Taihang Mountains.

You can reach Tianjing Pass after walking for dozens of miles.

Of course, this road is not like three days ago.

Because Tianjing Pass has not been captured yet, there will be no enemies appearing on this road.

But it is different from getting out of Tianjing Pass.

The Liangzhou Army has already occupied Gaodu County, and it is currently unknown whether they have come out of Gaodu County.

"Have there been any suspicious people around the pass recently? Have you discovered the Liangzhou Army?"

Gongsun Zan asked the captain guarding the pass.

The captain guarding the pass shook his head quickly and said: "I haven't discovered the Liangzhou Army, but there are indeed many refugees who want to enter the pass, but because the pass gate is closed, they have all been dispersed."

Gongsun Zan nodded secretly after hearing this: "After noon, mobilize a thousand infantry from the pass, and advance in front of my army. If you encounter an enemy ambush, form a formation on the spot. My main army is right behind you, don't worry, just fight them with peace of mind."

"Ah?"

After hearing Gongsun Zan's words, the captain guarding the pass was stunned.

"General, this... this is probably not appropriate. There are not many soldiers guarding the pass in the first place. If you mobilize a thousand people, there will be less than three thousand soldiers left."

"Hmm?"

Gongsun Zan swept a look over and said sternly: "What are you afraid of? With me behind you, even if there is an enemy army, can they fly over my head?"

"The road out of the mountain is difficult. If it weren't for the fact that my subordinates are all cavalry, would I need you?"

"With me behind, even if the enemy army is numerous, at worst, we can just retreat slowly. What is there to fear?"

Although Gongsun Zan said so,

the captain guarding the pass still had a bitter look on his face.

Gongsun Zan pressed the hilt of his sword with one hand and looked at the captain guarding the pass with fierce eyes.

Swept by Gongsun Zan's eyes, the captain guarding the pass immediately felt a chill on his neck.

Even if he was a hundred times reluctant in his heart, he could only nod and agree.

Then Gongsun Zan looked at the generals behind him.

"After leaving the pass, each of you leads a unit of troops, echoing each other, and remember to be careful and cautious," Gongsun Zan said.

The generals behind Gongsun Zan nodded and agreed one by one.

As the sun rose, in the blink of an eye, it was noon.

After the three gates of Tianjing Pass were opened, the thousand infantry led by the captain guarding the pass walked out of Tianjing Pass slowly.

Then came the White Horse Volunteers led by Gongsun Zan.

The army marched mightily from the Tianjing Pass, stretching along the Mount Taixing range.

The mountain road was difficult to travel, and even in the widest place, only three warhorses could walk side by side.

The birds and beasts in the surrounding forests were all frightened by the marching army and flew away in all directions.

Gongsun Zan specifically ordered the White Horse Volunteers to keep a distance of about one mile from the front infantry.

In this way, even if the front army encounters an enemy or an ambush, there is a buffer time to retreat.

Between the forests on both sides, the trees were dense, and the tender green buds had just climbed onto the branches.

Between the valleys, except for the heavy footsteps and hoofbeats of the marching army, there was no other sound.

Gongsun Zan, riding on his horse, looked at his surroundings vigilantly.

As long as you get out of these dozens of miles of mountain roads, you can arrive at the Bingzhou plain area.

Once there, seven thousand cavalry can exert their greatest advantage. As long as the Liangzhou Army dares to leave the city, he has a hundred ways to exhaust the Liangzhou troops.

Calculating in his heart, if he could defeat this army of Duan Yu, how could the Luoyang Imperial Court not enfeoff him as a Marquis and appoint him as a General this time?

After all, Liu Bei had already been enfeoffed as a Marquis and appointed as a General.

Thinking back, when he was in Youzhou, Liu Bei was just his little brother.

When he was studying in Luoyang, he often had to come to help and take care of him.

It had only been a few years, and when he saw Liu Bei in Luoyang a while ago, Liu Bei had already been enfeoffed as a Marquis and appointed as a General, and even Liu Bei's two sworn brothers had been enfeoffed as Marquises.

But he was only a captain with real power to lead troops.

Thinking about it, Gongsun Zan felt aggrieved.

The military merit he had made in Youzhou over these years was not as good as Liu Bei's.

Between the forests, on a high cliff.

Qu Yi, standing on the cliff wall, narrowed his eyes and looked at the White Horse Volunteers below like a long dragon.

"Let the front army pass, cut off from the middle to the rear of the army. After the fire starts, quickly cut down the trees on both sides. The bigger the fire, the better."

"I will go to the front myself to meet this White Horse General!" ===== CHAPTER 1441 =====